This relates to a guarded vehicle ornament that prevents or deters the theft of the hood ornament.
In more recent years, the automobile manufacturers for safety reasons have designed the hood ornaments so that the ornament will give without breaking if it strikes any object. It is known in the art that many of these vehicle hood ornaments are thus retained in place within a mounting assembly by means of a wire clip positioned within a helical spring with the end of the clip bent over the end of the spring. This arrangement allows the hood ornament to be pushed forwardly or backwardly after which it will return to its original position upright position without breaking and without injury to any person that comes into contact with the ornament. Unfortunately, this mounting assembly also allows the ornament to be pulled upwardly from of its mounting base by compressing the helical spring and exposing the head of the wire clip which can then be rather easily cut by wire cutters or other means and the hood ornament removed. Thus, these hood ornaments, especially those for "luxury cars", are favorite items for theft, especially by vandals who use the medallion portion of the ornament to make pendants, bracelets, etc. Due to the ease by which hood ornaments can be taken, and the expense of replacing the entire assembly that includes the medallion, there exists a need to more securely attach the hood ornament to prevent its unauthorized removal while still allowing the ornament to yield for safety reasons if it strikes an object or person.